The European Elections in the Press: Earthquake, Landslide, Shock!

Two grinning euroskeptic politicians graced many of Europe’s front pages Monday, with France’s Marine Le Pen and Britain’s Nigel Farage dominating much of the coverage of Sunday’s European Parliament elections.

Ms. Le Pen’s far-right Front National party won a quarter of the votes in France, while Mr. Farage’s UKIP got 27% in the UK, marking the first time a party other than the Conservatives or Labour had won a national election since 1910. Both parties advocate pulling out of the European Union and will now likely re-shape the political discourse in France and the UK, two of the bloc’s biggest and most influential countries.

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“Europe last night became the stage for a political earthquake,” said Spain’s El Mundo, pointing to other triumphant showings by anti-EU parties in Italy, Denmark, Austria, Hungary and Greece. Ex-comic Beppe Grillo came second in Italy with his anti-establishment Five Star movement (22%), and Greece’s far-left Syriza came in first (26%). Greece will also send at least three neo-Nazi Golden Dawn members to Brussels.

That apocalyptic tone characterized coverage of the European elections, a survey of the continent’s front pages shows.

In the UK, the Daily Mail noted that “chillingly,” Germany’s far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) for the first time won 1% of the vote, becoming one of a half-dozen small parties to enter the European Parliament for the first time.

But of course there is another way to look at the results, even if only a few media outlets did so. Spain’s El Pais was one of the rare newspapers to lead with the less-sensational fact that two-thirds of voters backed centrist pro-European parties, and that these mainstream politicians are expected to occupy a broad majority of the 751 seats in the new legislature.

Up yEUrs!

More typical was Germany’s Die Welt, which announced that “the U.K.’s eurosceptic party has a won a seismic victory,” pointing to Mr. Farage’s latest comments that not only should the U.K. leave the EU but the 28-member bloc should be dismantled altogether. In contrast, it referred to the “well-behaved” Germans, who largely stuck to the political mainstream and turned out in higher numbers to vote.

In true British tabloid form, the Sun pasted the cheerleading headline “Up yEUrs” alongside a jubilant-looking Mr. Farage. It described the blow to the EU’s “elite” as a “jumbo drubbing.”

Set against a photo of the distant English coast, Handelsblatt ran the headline, “England Drifts Away.” The German business daily asked how much the U.K. would “drift further away from the continent” because of UKIP. It predicted that Prime Minister David Cameron would now be forced to push through proposals on immigration and open EU borders in order to shore up his right flank.

“Euro-haters” unite

“Euro-haters on the March,” ran the headline in Bild, Germany’s tabloid newspaper. Alongside a jubilant Ms. Le Pen, the paper also posted a photo of Bernd Lucke, the leader of the country’s new euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which garnered 7% of the vote.

But many papers failed to make distinction between between different shades of euroskeptic parties. Mr. Lucke, for instance, has resolutely refused to team up with either the FN, UKIP or any other party advocating an outright exit from the bloc. And UKIP itself has turned up its nose at FN, with Mr. Farage saying the party has anti-Semitic roots.

Whether the array of nationalist and euroskeptic parties will have any real influence may depend on whether they can unite once they take their seats in the European Parliament. The Dutch tabloid De Telegraaf said the eurosceptic parties could fail to create a formal paraliamentary group, which requires at least 25 members from seven countries and provides greater influence and access to EU funding. Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders, who lost one of his party’s five seats, will come to Brussels Wednesday for talks with the France’s FN, De Telegraaf said.

Dutch daily De Volkskrant said the faction of anti-EU parties, be they “ruthless or moderate,” would rise roughly from 156 to 228 seats. “These parties are sharply opposed to the deep cuts that their leaders committed to in Brussels,” the paper wrote, pointing to Greece and France. “In those countries, the outcome of the election could lead to total political unrest.”

Le Figaro, a leading French newspaper, pointed out that these elections were being watched closely by the White House to see if the outcome could have an impact on the landmark free trade deal that the EU is negotiating with the United States.

Comments (4 of 4)

A common market doesn't work if it's run by the government. You need capitalism. So if the EU wants to reform itself, it needs to eschew socialism.

1:08 am May 27, 2014

Backlash wrote:

The hypocrisy of the leftist policies pushed people to their limits, and now we are seeing the beginning of a backlash.

The EU preaches democracy to everyone, but many of Brussels' leaders are unelected and they are accountable to NOBODY. Isn't this a problem? Hello! Anybody home?

In the name of 'diversity' all kinds of extremist and anti-European immigrant groups are allowed to flourish. Somehow according to this bizarre logic the historical homegrown cultures have no value in diversity. If you wear a national costume and observe historical and cultural events of your homeland, you are branded as a 'primitive nationalist'. But rootless migrants can wear burkas, turbans, saris etc., and observe cultural norms that are totally anti-European (and sometimes outright hostile to European culture), yet we have to respect and tolerate them in the name of 'diversity'.

In the name of 'diversity' a freak transgendered bearded ladyman, with the stage name Pussy Sausage can be considered a role model (see Euro-trash-vision 2014). But if you stand for a traditional family that observes timeless values, then you are considered a backward conservative.

We joined the Union with the thought of building a federation of nations that share common historical and cultural roots (Christian roots...for the slow ones...). Instead we find ourselves in the midst of EuroFreaks, a place where bizarre and fringe behaviors are valued in the name of diversity, while genuine national cultures are openly repressed.

Hello Brussels! We are fed up! Your wakeup call is now.

9:04 pm May 26, 2014

Tom Mariner wrote:

It is easy for citizens to vote themselves lives where others are taxed to pay for them. Every now and then the voters wake up and recognize they are mortgaging their children's future, it is more fun to work hard and achieve, and the touchy-feely letting those who hate their country become citizens has consequences.

We're going through the exact same awakening in the US, but we are a nation of mongrels. We are just about to end an era where political leaders have gained power by lying to different segments they will be favored, when in fact, all they care about is their votes. And, just like Europe, voters are seeing through the lies and saying "Show me the results!". And, just like the EU the results are disastrous!

11:36 am May 26, 2014

markjuliansmith wrote:

It means the Left has left the liberty barricades as in France which spent millions of citizens blood to obtain and incredibly the French far-right has had to step in an resume the role.

France's citizens as elsewhere are utilising whatever societal instrument they can (whether they like it or not) to rid the Public Square of the genocidal misogynistic construct allowed in by the Pathological Altruists now in charge of Western public policy. You think this is a shock just wait, the Left has to realise in France of all places they have made a mistake.

Do the math reflect on your own experience you have a genocidal construct allowed to move freely within the Public Square what happens. France as everywhere else has to make a choice and quickly between Freedom or Liberty particularly for women.

About Real Time Brussels

The Wall Street Journal’s Brussels blog is produced by the Brussels bureau of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. The bureau has been headed since 2009 by Stephen Fidler, who was previously a correspondent and editor for the Financial Times and Reuters. Also posting regularly: Matthew Dalton, Viktoria Dendrinou, Tom Fairless, Naftali Bendavid, Laurence Norman, Gabriele Steinhauser and Valentina Pop.